Autocar Company

Last updated
Autocar Company Inc.
Company type Private subsidiary of GVW Group, LLC
Industry Commercial vehicles
Founded Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. (October 21, 1897;127 years ago (1897-10-21))
Headquarters
Birmingham, AL
,
United States
ProductsSevere Duty Class 7 & 8 truck chassis and Terminal Tractors
Website autocartruck.com

The Autocar Company is an American specialist manufacturer of severe-duty, Class 7 and Class 8 vocational trucks, with its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama. Started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October 1897 as a manufacturer of early Brass Era automobiles, and trucks from 1899, Autocar is the oldest surviving motor vehicle brand in the Western Hemisphere. [1]

Contents

Scrip certificate of The Autocar Company, issued 17 October 1946 Autocar Company 1946.jpg
Scrip certificate of The Autocar Company, issued 17 October 1946

Their last cars of their own manufactures were produced in 1911; after that the company continued as a maker of severe-duty trucks. The Autocar Company was taken over 42 years later, in 1953, by the White Motor Company (established 1900), which made Autocar their top-of-the-line brand for continuing producing heavy-duty industrial trucks. White Motors was in turn taken over 28 years later by Volvo Trucks of Sweden in 1981, with Autocar continuing as a separate division. In 2001, Autocar was acquired by GVW Group, LLC, which revived Autocar as an independent company. Autocar now builds four models of custom-engineered heavy-duty trucks and has regained leading positions in several vocational segments.

History

Autocar logo 1912 Autocar 1912-07 logo.jpg
Autocar logo 1912

The company was originally called the Pittsburgh Motor Vehicle Company when started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October 1897 but was renamed two years later in 1899 as The Autocar Company [2] when it moved east across the "Keystone State" to Ardmore, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia. One of the company's early cars was named the "Pittsburgher". [3] By 1907, the company had decided to concentrate on commercial vehicles and soon withdrew from the passenger automobile manufacturing / production business, and the Autocar brand is still in use a century and a quarter later for commercial trucks.

Based on the minutes of Autocar company board of directors meetings during 1903–1907, it is known that in 1903 the board of directors included the president, Louis S. Clarke, the secretary, John S. Clarke, and James K. Clarke. Both Louis Semple Clarke and his brother John S. Clarke were members of the fabled South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club connected with the causes of the infamous tragic disaster of the Great Johnstown Flood of May 1889.

Founder

Autocar founder Louis Semple Clarke (1867–1957) was a successful mechanical engineer. Among Clarke's innovations were the porcelain-insulated spark plug for gasoline engines, a perfected drive shaft system for automobiles, and the first design of a useful oil circulation system. Other impacts include Clarke's initiative to place the driver on the left hand side of the vehicle which eventually became the standard in much of the automotive industry worldwide, [4] as well as the Autocar thread specification which became the standard in the U.S. automotive industry.

Clarke was also a talented photographer. His family were members of the exclusive South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club above Johnstown, Pennsylvania, whose earthen dam at Lake Conemaugh burst on May 31, 1889, causing the Johnstown Flood. [5]

Clarke sold his interest in Autocar in 1929 and retired from business. He died in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 6, 1957, and is buried in Allegheny Cemetery, in Pittsburgh.

Products

Autocar 12HP Tourer 1903 Autocar 1903 12HP Tourer on London to Brighton VCR 2013.jpg
Autocar 12HP Tourer 1903
Autocar 12HP Tonneau 1904 Autocar 1904 12HP Tonneau on London to Brighton VCR 2010.jpg
Autocar 12HP Tonneau 1904
1908 Autocar XV 1908 Autocar XV.jpg
1908 Autocar XV

Clarke experimented with a series of vehicles from 1897, with a tricycle, later called "Autocar No. 1", now in the collection of the Smithsonian. [6] [7] In 1899 the company, now renamed Autocar, built the first motor truck ever produced for sale in North America. [8] The first production Autocar automobile was a 1900 single cylinder chain drive runabout. About 27 were made. In 1901 Autocar built the first car in North America to use shaft drive. This vehicle is also now in the Smithsonian collection. [9]

The 1904 Autocar was equipped with a tonneau; it could seat four passengers and sold for $1,700 (equivalent to $57,600in 2023). The horizontal-mounted flat twin engine, situated at the front of the car, produced 11 hp (8.2 kW). This was a somewhat unusual engine design for the time, with most companies producing inline designs. A three-speed transmission was fitted. The steel and wood-framed car weighed 1675 lb (760 kg). The early cars had tiller steering.

In 1905, the company was selling the Type XII car for $2,250 (equivalent to $76,300in 2023) and another it called the Type X for $1,000 (equivalent to $33,900in 2023). It discontinued the Type XI and sold the last of them in 1905. The cars then had a wheel steering with left-hand drive.

The Type X was a runabout. During the 1905–1906 model year the company produced 1000 Type X cars. The manufacture of 500 Type XV runabouts was authorized for 1907 in place of 500 touring cars (Type XIV) in addition to the 1000 runabouts already planned. At special meeting on June 19, 1906, held at 711 Arcade Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the board authorized the hiring of a general manager by the name of Harry A. Gillis at a salary of $10,000 per year. Production of 300 Type XVI cars and 500 Type XVII were authorized during a board meeting on November 21, 1906.

Commercial vehicles were made the focus from 1907 and soon outnumbered cars. [10]

As of 1911, Autocar was making only trucks. The first model, the Type XVII, had a 97-inch wheelbase, a one and a half-ton capacity, and a two-cylinder gasoline engine under the seat. Later engines had 4 and 6 cylinders, and wheelbases became longer. Inline engines became the company's focus.

During World War I, the Canadian Armoured Autocar used an Autocar chassis.

In 1929, Autocar sold 3300 units, though the number fell to 1000 in 1932 and continued to decline during the Great Depression. Larger trucks with "Blue Streak" gasoline engines and Diesel engines, mainly from Cummins, came later.

Autocar built a wide variety of transportation and combat vehicles during World War II, including the M2 half-track, M3 half-track (pictured), and M5 half-track M3 half track 9-08-2008 14-47-56.JPG
Autocar built a wide variety of transportation and combat vehicles during World War II, including the M2 half-track, M3 half-track (pictured), and M5 half-track

During World War II, Autocar supplied 50,000 units to the military, including specialty vehicles such as half-tracks; during its entire prewar history, the company had only built 70,000 units. Autocar ranked 85th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts. [11] Civilian production resumed in 1944 and sales increased greatly after the war. Autocar soon had 100 dealers.

Subsidiary of White Motor Company

The boom after the war ended quickly, however; and in 1953, Autocar sold out to the White Motor Company, which made Autocar their top-of-the-line brand among their "Big Four" brand portfolio. The Ardmore plant was replaced in 1954 with a new plant in Exton, Pennsylvania, though the Ardmore plant burned while being torn down in 1956 and the fire could have destroyed a neighborhood.

Autocar's "Custom Engineering" process for meeting each customer's needs led to a reputation as "World's Finest".[ citation needed ] White replaced Blue Streak engines with its own Mustang, and production of gasoline-powered trucks ended in 1965.

AP off-road vehicles became an important product for Autocar. The 1964 AP19 shown in September 2007 at a Golden Age Truck Museum exhibit "has a GCW of 900,000 lbs, a 30,000lb front axle, planetary rear axles rated at 200,000 lbs, and was originally powered with a 525 HP Cummins V-12 diesel which was later replaced with a 6-cylinder Cummins KT rated at 750 HP."

Most Autocar trucks continued to use the Autocar Driver Cab; in 1977 Autocar launched the Construcktor 2 model which used the Xpeditor cab that had recently been launched by sister-company, White.

The Exton plant ended production in 1980, with production moving to the modern White plant in Ogden, Utah. [3]

White, Volvo and GMC

1987 Autocar DK-64 wrecker with 60 ton lift 1987 Autocar DK-64 wrecker truck.jpg
1987 Autocar DK-64 wrecker with 60 ton lift

Shortly after the move to Utah in 1980, with White insolvent, in 1981 AB Volvo acquired the U.S. assets and brands to become Volvo-White LLC. Volvo produced trucks under both the White and Autocar brands and Autocar continued as the division focused on severe-duty trucks. The Autocar DK severe-duty line was launched in 1983 and, as a replacement of the venerable DC line, was widely used in heavy dump truck, concrete mixer, refuse, and oil field applications, among many others. Also launched in 1983 was the widely admired Autocar AT64F, a top-of-the-line long-haul tractor marketed as "The Legend". The last traditional Autocar with a "Custom Driver Cab" was made in Ogden on December 18, 1987. In 1988, the DK was replaced by the Autocar ACL and ACM models, which used the White Xpeditor cab, first used by Autocar in the Construcktor 2 model. While the AC-series trucks were tough and reliable, they incorporated an expanded number of Volvo components and, for some Autocar loyalists, marked a dilution of the Autocar brand.

1987 Autocar garbage truck Autocar dumper in NYC.jpg
1987 Autocar garbage truck

Volvo-White bought GMC's heavy truck business in 1987 creating the Volvo WhiteGMC brand. Volvo later dropped any reference to White but used the Autocar bow-tie emblem on the radiator and hood side panels. In 1996 "Autocar" became a truck model name.

Autocar remained a part of Volvo until 2001. When Volvo acquired the North American operations of Renault Trucks in 2000, including its wholly-owned subsidiary Mack Trucks, the merged company would have had an excess or anti-competitive share of the refuse truck market sector. Volvo agreed to sell select designs for the Xpeditor low cab-forward severe-duty products, intellectual properties, and the Autocar brand to Highland Park, Illinois-based Grand Vehicle Works Holdings, LLC (GVW Group). Autocar used the Xpeditor cab developed by White in the Autocar ACL and ACM conventional truck models and had also used it in the earlier Autocar Construcktor 2 conventional truck model, beginning in 1977.

Contemporary activities

2017 Autocar Xpeditor (ACX) refuse truck 2017 Autocar ACX truck with a front-loader body.jpg
2017 Autocar Xpeditor (ACX) refuse truck
Autocar Xpert (ACMD) Autocar Xpert with the MTA (Supply Logistics), front left.jpg
Autocar Xpert (ACMD)

Once again independent after nearly 50 years, as of 2021 the Autocar company now employs over 400 at its manufacturing facilities in Birmingham, Alabama (model ACX cabover and model DC trucks) and Hagerstown, Indiana, where the company produces custom-engineered ACMD and ACTT models for severe-duty vocational applications. The company's severe-duty ACX model offers features ranging from improved ergonomic cabs, integrated controls, and complex multiple axle configurations, up to triple-steer, triple-drive 12x6 trucks weighing over 100,000 lbs. The Autocar ACX is now[ when? ] second nationally in several segments, including concrete pump trucks and refuse trucks. The Autocar ACTT is a leading model of terminal tractor. The company has a nationwide service network in the US. Autocar's customer base includes large fleets, private fleets and major municipalities in the United States and Canada such as Miami, Newark, Houston, Chicago and Vancouver.

Autocar announced on September 13, 2017, that it had opened a second, 1.2 million square-foot manufacturing site in Birmingham, Alabama. [12]

Since 2012, Autocar also builds a medium-duty vocational truck series called the Xpert (ACMD). It uses a 2-3 person cab made by Chinese Qixing (QX-PW21TGD). [13] Autocar has also offered the Xpert with dual-steering system for garbage truck service. [14]

Autocar announced on May 7, 2019, the relaunch of the DC conventional truck that had been the core of Autocar's business from the 1950s through the 1970s. The relaunched DC is completely new and reported to have several unique features, such as the first 160,000 PSI steel frame rails, an upgraded electrical system, and a cab that fits three workers and is designed for serviceability, with a full steel structure inside the dashboard and aluminum sheets as dash panels. The first version released is the DC-64R, which is purpose-built for refuse applications. [15] Another unique feature of the DC is that Autocar mounts full roll-off hoist bodies on the Autocar production line, avoiding numerous problems when modifications are made after production. [16] Additional variations of the DC announced include the DC-64D for dump trucks, the DC-64M for concrete mixer trucks, and the DC-64P specifically for concrete pump trucks. [17]

On May 13, 2021, Autocar announced the launch of the E-ACTT, a fully electric terminal tractor. Autocar had first introduced electric trucks in 1923. [18]

Current truck models

Current truck vocations

Historic trucks

1920s era Under-Seat engined Autocar Delivery truck 1920s Autocar delivery truck, front left (Hershey 2019).jpg
1920s era Under-Seat engined Autocar Delivery truck
c. 1930 Autocar Model DA logging truck Vintage Autocar logging truck at Forest Resource Education Center.jpg
c. 1930 Autocar Model DA logging truck

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References

  1. ↑ Corey, Brian (2022-10-21). "October 21, 1897 - Autocar, the oldest surviving American vehicle company, is founded". This Day In Automotive History. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  2. ↑ 100 Years of the American Auto Millennium Edition, Copyright 1999 Publications International, Ltd.
  3. 1 2 Manchester, Bob. "Autocar - The World's Finest". Golden Age Truck Museum. Archived from the original on 2009-08-31.
  4. ↑ Clarke, Louis Semple, Death notice, Time magazine, Monday, Jan. 21, 1957
  5. ↑ See examples of his photos at: pennhighlands.edu Archived 2008-10-18 at the Wayback Machine (library)
  6. ↑ "America on the Move - Clarke gasoline tricycle". amhistory.SI.edu. 2 November 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Clarke Gasoline Tricycle, 1897". National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2024-12-06.
  8. ↑ "Company". Archived from the original on 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
  9. ↑ "America on the Move - Autocar automobile". amhistory.SI.edu. 2 November 2016. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Autocar". GVW Holdings. Archived from the original on 2008-03-29.
  11. ↑ Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis (1962) Harvard Business School p. 619
  12. ↑ Bizjournals
  13. ↑ Hubei Qixing Vehicle-Body Limited Company. "SCV LCV MCV HCV RHD LHD truck cabin manufacturer". Alibaba. Archived from the original on 2020-03-27.
  14. ↑ "1000units of dual drive cabin of sweeper trucks for USA". Hubei Qixing Group. 2018-12-13. Archived from the original on 2020-03-27.
  15. ↑ Staff, H. D. T. "Autocar Rolls out New Conventional Truck Model". truckinginfo.com.
  16. ↑ "Purpose-built trucks engineered by the leading OEM dedicated to severe-duty trucks". Autocar Truck.
  17. ↑ "Autocar Announces Mixer Version of DC-64 Conventional". Construction Equipment. 30 September 2019.
  18. ↑ "Autocar, LLC Launches the E-ACTT, an Emissions-Free, All-Electric Terminal Tractor". 13 May 2021.
  19. ↑ "Official Autocar concrete pump truck page".
  20. ↑ "Purpose-built trucks engineered by the leading OEM dedicated to severe-duty trucks".
  21. ↑ "Official Autocar refuse truck page".
  22. ↑ "Official Autocar ACX truck page".
  23. ↑ "Official Autocar terminal tractor page".
  24. ↑ "Autocar Dispatch". trucksplanet.com.
  25. 1 2 "autocartruck.com". Archived from the original on September 4, 2014.
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